For a neat summary of how Colm O'Rourke has gone about rebuilding the Meath team this summer, consider the case of newcomer Sean Coffey.
The defender, from the Ballinabrackey club, wasn't on the Meath panel for the National League and hadn't played a single minute of senior football for his county prior to the first round of the Championship.
Yet when O'Rourke named his first ever Meath team for the Leinster SFC opener against Offaly, Coffey was on it and hasn't been out of the lineup since. Six games, six starts.
He is one of 12 different players, most of whom came through the successful minor setups from 2018 to 2021, to make their senior Championship debuts in recent weeks. Half a dozen more made National League debuts but haven't yet featured in the Championship.
There is still a sprinkling of experience on the panel - captain Donal Keogan is closing in on his 50th Championship appearance while James McEntee, Cillian O'Sullivan and Padraic Harnan all have over 20 appearances each - but it will be a largely new look group that faces Down in Saturday's Tailteann Cup final.
"Back in October and November they were doing pre-season testing and training and I was in the squad for a while and the squad was cut then and I didn't make it," said Coffey, a Leinster minor medal winner in 2018.
"Obviously the lads had their reasons and I think they were dead right, I don't think I deserved to be on the panel at all.
"They said the door was never closed and that I was part of the development squad and eventually I was going well with my club, I was getting fitter and I got the call to come in. It was nice to get the call."
Looking back, Coffey reckons he was probably fatigued last autumn when the new Meath management weighed him up. Back at college and coming to the end of a long club season, he felt 'drained' at the time but redoubled his efforts over winter and it was in a spring challenge match for the Meath development squad against Cavan that he stood out and earned his opportunity.
Coffey said his reaction to being overlooked initially was similar to his reaction to the disappointment of losing that opening Championship game against Offaly, a result which plunged Meath into the Tailteann Cup.
"It's easy to lie in bed after a game and to feel sorry for yourself but the family at home would be sneering you and slagging you so you have to get back on the horse, you can't stay down for too long," he said.
Given that his club, Ballinabrackey, is pressed right up against the Offaly border, and that he went to school in Offaly, that defeat to Offaly was a particularly sore one but his and Meath's response has been strong. They've won all five of their Tailteann Cup games since, including a Round 3 win over Down at Parnell Park.
Down struck 17 wides that day though still led by two points with under 10 minutes remaining. It wasn't until the 73rd minute that Meath surged ahead before adding a 78th minute point from a free following more than two minutes of retaining possession.
"Obviously Down beat Laois fairly comprehensively in their semi-final and we watched most of that game," said Coffey. "They played really good stuff and the eight goals they scored were all good goals. Compared to the game we played against them at Parnell Park, that game was a lot tighter at Parnell Park and maybe the pitch made a difference that day.
"In Croke Park, it might be a more open game than it was the last day. Look, we'll be expecting a really tough encounter with Down, you wouldn't expect anything else. We'll be expecting to come home sore from that day."
